Jaded
by magnetosdaughter
Summary: young Tom and Katie - please r&r, should i write more?


He'd seen her before. He couldn't remember exactly but he knew she was one of his dad's special students. He wanted to say hello, but he couldn't remember her name. She was awful pretty. At age 12, a lot of his friends still shied away from the opposite sex, but Tom had always been a bit precocious...what was her name? There was something about her...something that made him feel...what? He didn't understand but he wanted to be worthy of her somehow. Sitting over there in her pristine Cadet uniform, shoulders straight, hair pulled back...she was everything he wasn't. Somehow he knew she was everything he'd never be.  
  
"Kathryn, I'm sorry to have kept you."  
  
He watched his father usher her in repeating her name to himself, trying to commit it to memory. He'd been forgotten again it seemed, but at least he'd been overlooked for a pretty young cadet. He sat back and returned to his drawings. Tom had been artistic as a young child but he'd left it behind when he'd discovered flying. He'd returned to it recently. His mother had always encouraged his drawing. She'd died three months ago and amongst her belongings at Starfleet Medical he'd found a small drawing of one of his sisters he'd done when he was six or seven years old. Tom had started sketching again in an attempt to hold on to his mother's memory. He looked at the drawing he'd been working on, a simple sketch of the groundskeeper. He scowled, unimpressed, and crumpled it into a ball. His father had offered to buy him an artist's PADD but there was nothing so satisfying as real paper. He started drawing.  
  
An hour or so went by. It was beginning to get late, even for the Admiral. Tom stood up letting his drawing fall. He moved quietly to the office door and listened. He could hear his father and the girl - Kathryn - talking. His father sounded better than he had in the past six months. He sounded almost okay. He couldn't quite hear what they were talking about but Kathryn sounded excited about something. Tom listened for a moment, then knocked quietly.  
  
"Come...oh, Tom, I'm sorry I didn't realize you were here." Tom stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting for the okay to come in.  
  
"Come in, son." Tom stepped in to let the door close behind him. "Kathryn, you remember my son, Tom." She nodded, glancing between the two. Up close Tom saw she was even prettier. "Tom, I've invited Kathryn to dinner..." the Admiral checked his chronometer, "and it's about that time now. Shall we?" Paris ushered Kathryn out before him, Tom followed quietly, his heart beating faster at the thought of Kathryn in his home.  
  
***  
  
Dinner at the Paris homestead was quiet these days. Everything at the Paris homestead was quiet these days. But dinner with Kathryn was a pleasant change. Tom found that Kathryn had brains as well as beauty. She could easily hold her own with his father but she wasn't stuffy like his colleagues or skittish like all his other students. Instead she was charmingly intelligent and could even make the Admiral laugh. For the change she brought out in his father alone Tom would have welcomed her. The fact that she was also easily the most attractive girl he'd ever met...that was just a bonus.  
  
It was nearly 22:00 when Kathryn had to leave. She and the admiral had spent the evening discussing some project that sounded like a lot of work and not much fun to Tom but he remained in the room. He drew a succession of Kathryns, never quite capturing the girl he saw before him, but he refused to crumple even one. When the time finally came for Kathryn to take her leave of them Tom saw her to the door.  
  
"Thanks for coming." He said it almost shyly, feeling more at a loss than he thought he could.  
  
"Thanks for having me." She replied easily, smiling ever so slightly her beautiful smile. "Bye."  
  
"Wait!" It slipped out of him as she'd turned to go, he blushed brilliantly as she turned back. "Um, you can come back...I mean, you're welcome anytime. Um, I know my dad wouldn't mind. I mean he'd like it. He, uh, he was happier tonight than I'd seen him since...um..."  
  
"I understand. Thank you, I'm sure I'll come again."  
  
"Soon?" Her eyes sparkled but she didn't laugh at him.  
  
"Soon. I promise."  
  
"You could even stay the night." This time she did laugh and he blushed again. "I mean my sisters are gone and it's a really big house and, um..."  
  
"Okay, Tom. I'll see you." She looked over his shoulder. "Good night, Admiral." She walked away and Tom turned to his father.  
  
"She's a special girl, Tom and a credit to Starfleet."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Goodnight, Tom." 


End file.
